Ordering from HOJO

Ok, so I have gone back and forth between the hojo hype for some time now and finally decided I needed to let MY taste be the judge. I mean if you have ever been to the hojo site you will find some pretty substantial claims being made. Far be it from me to judge a product on second hand knowledge. So I decided to take the plunge and order some of his japanese green tea, (the only reason I am posting here is because it was green tea and I didn't know where else to post this, so if there is a better place please move it, thank you!) and it took me a WEEK to get my order submitted. between the back and forth e-mails, the "oh i just need one more bit of info, and the lack of response it actually took me a week to place an order. actually eight days if you count the wait for the price list. So is this the norm with this vendor or does it get "easier" with time?

I have never had a back-and-forth email conversation when ordering tea from Hojo. I have told them what I want, where to ship it, where to bill it (PayPal), and that was the end of it.

Akira did engage me once when I ordered a high-end teapot. He was travelling at the time and was able to email me only sporadically. He had re-measured the volume of the pot and he was making sure that it still suited me.

Hojo's prices are a little high, but his quality is impeccable and I have found his service to be impeccable too.

If he is as serious about his site as he is about his tea and wares ... he definitely should upgrade his site. I suspect this would be as beneficial to him as it is to someone interested in what he is selling ... which currently requires the secret "available now" url.

Have had the Tsukigase and Kasuga Zairai Senchas from Hojo. Both of these teas were of superior quality(distinct, strong flavor and aroma) especially the Kasuga which had a deeper steam. These teas complement each other well hence why they are in Hojo's lineup. Having not read the details of the tea on Hojo's website until after buying the tea, found it to be spot on; especially for the price even after factoring shipping in.

blairswhitaker wrote:I did indeed order the Tsukigase Zaïraï, have you had it?

It is an excellent tea from my point of view, easy to miss at first but so deep. The sencha I prefer from Akira's selection. But I am more into his chinese/taiwanese teas in general.

As someone who has always appreciated Hojo's sincere interest in tea and teaware, a buyer has to get past the simple fact that the exchange rate for Yen is really prohibitive and puts them at a disadvantage unless you don't care about spending more than you need to for good teas. As someone who has bought teas from him, (not a lot), the quality always remained good. But as long as the exchange rate is unfavorable to me, I feel I am overpaying for some of his teas. But, this is a very subjective decision that every buyer must make for themselves.

I have also had some frustrating experiences ordering from Hojo with the back-and-forth email exchange. I don't know why he doesn't just have an online checkout like everyone else. I remember e-commerce was like this up until the end of the 90's.

Hojo-san, please join us in the 21st century ;_;

His tea is excellent though, and I have confidence in it being low in pesticides, especially a concern after Greenpeace's findings. One of the reasons I'm willing to tolerate the sometimes onerous ordering process is that the man has a trove of detailed, expert information in his head about tea, the brewing of tea, the growing of tea and just about anything else about tea you could think of. He's willing to take the time to answer questions in detail that other vendors just wouldn't bother with, and he does it with remarkable detail.